Form board supporting stake clamp



July 14, 1959 E. E. HOGAN ET AL FORM BOARD SUPPORTING STAKE CLAMP Filed Jan. 20, 1958 Bose-er 5. M44004,

INVENTORS.

147- TOE/ME Y.

United States Patent FORM BOARD SUPPORTING STAKE CLAMP Eric E. Hogan and Robert S. Malloch, Riverside, Calif.

' Application January 20, 1958, Serial No. 710,104

6 Claims. (Cl. 24-249) This invention relates to concrete construction forms and particularly to a novel curb and gutter form spacing apparatus adapted to be used in setting up and dismantling forms repeatedly used in the casting of a unitary curb and gutter bordering a street or highway. Various forms of such apparatus in which the invention is adapted to be used are disclosed in our co-pending applications for U.S. Letters Patent, Serial No. 475,995, filed December 17, 1954; Serial No.607,791, filed September 4, 1956, now abandoned; and Serial No. 668,543, filed June 27, .1957.

The apparatus above referred to includes a spacer bar for spacing two or more of the boards in a curb and gutter mold andone or more metal stakes employed for supporting said spacer bar. The connection between the spacer bar and said stakes are provided by stake clamps which are rigidly united with the spacer bar and have openings for receiving the stakes when the latter are properly positioned for supporting the mold and the lower ends of the stakes driven into the ground. These clamps are then set on said stakes so as to form a very rigid connection between the stakes and the spacer bar.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple clamp adapted for such use which is inexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, easy to operate and which does not tend to be fouled up by concrete accidentally spilled thereon in the filling of the molds.

While the stakes used in said apparatus are generally uniform in diameter, and made from three quarter inch round steel rod, occasionally ofii-size stakes find their way into the equipment with which these clamps are used and it is highly desirable that the clamp used with the foresaid apparatus be adapted without alteration to be applied to cylindrical steel rod stakes which vary from standard diameter as much as one eighth to a quarter of an inch.

It is thus another object of the invention to provide a stake clamp for the purpose above stated which may be readily set with equal facility and without adjustment on cylindrical steel stakes which vary substantially in diameter.

The curb and gutter form spacing apparatus shown in our co-pending application Serial No. 475,995 includes a stake clamp adapted to be applied to a stake, already in use for supporting one end of a board spacer, said clamp functioning to support the back board of a curb and gutter mold. This making double use of a single stake saves one stake which is otherwise required for supporting each separate length of the back board.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel stake clamp which is adapted to be applied to a stake for supporting the back board of a curb and gutter mold without interfering with said stake also being used for supporting one end of a board spacer.

It is still another object to provide such a stake clamp which will support the back board of the mold without any special selection being necessary of the location for 2,894,307 Patented July 14, 1959 the stake on which said clamp is set. In other words the stake in question is not necessarily required to be at a point of juncture between two adjacent sections of the back board but may be anywhere therealong.

The manner of accomplishing the foregoing objects as well as further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a curb and gutter form set up by use of the apparatus of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the clamp of the invention as this is employed for supporting a section of the back board of a curb and gutter mold.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the invention as shown therein as embodied in spacing apparatus 15 which offers a means of rapidly and accurately assembling the three boards of a concrete curb and gutter form 16 or, with equal facility,-disassembling said form. The three boards of form 16 comprise the backboard 17, the face board 18, and the gutter board 19.

The board spacing apparatus 15 includes a back board setter 20, including a stake 21, a clamp 22, having a back board supporting hook 23, and a board jigging spacer 24.

The back board setter stake 21 is preferably formed of three-quarter inch round steel rod stock which is standard for all the stakes used in connection with the present invention.

The backboard setter clamp 22 comprises a substantially U-shaped body 28 which may be die-formed from a single piece of metal but is preferably formed of a one and three-eighths inch length of structural steel angle 2% inches by 2% inches with flanges 7 of an inch thick. The flanges 30 of body 28 lie at right angles with each other and have bends 31 formed therein of to produce two substantially parallel arms 32.

Aligned bearing holes 33 are formed in the body arms 32 to serve as bearings for a shaft 34, a central portion 35 of which is slightly bent so that said portion is eccentric relative to the portions of shaft 34 which journal in holes 33. One end 36 of shaft 34 extends a short distance beyond one of the holes 33, has a washer 37 placed thereover and is then swedged to prevent the removal of that end of the shaft 34 inwardly through that hole 33. The opposite end portion 38 of shaft 34 is bent from the balance thereof to form an operating handle.

Formed of high carbon hot rolled bar stock with a cross-section of about by and about 3 /2 inches long is a lock bar 42 having a bend 43 therein which divides said bar into a long leg 44 and a short leg 45. The legs 44 and 45 have sharp corners 46 and 47 which bear against the stake 21 when the clamp 22 is applied thereto and the bar 42 is extended lengthwise between the stake 21 and the shaft 34 so that the sloping wedge face 48 of the lock bar operates to take up all the slack space between the shaft 21 and the central eccentric portion 35 of the shaft 34. At the time the lock bar 42 is first thus inserted between the stake 21 and the shaft 34, the eccentric portion 35 of the latter is disposed outwardly from the axis of the holes 33. At this time the handle 38 is disposed in upward position as shown in broken lines 50 in Fig. 3. To set the clamp 22 on the stake 21 all that is necessary to do now is to rotate the handle 38 down wardly which applies the eccentric 35 inwardly against the wedge face 48 of the lock bar 42 so as to apply said lock bar with a powerful pressure through the sharp corners 46 and 47 thereof to the stake 21. These corners thus sink slightly into the material of the stake and lock the clamp 22 upon the stake with a powerful grip.

, The eccentricity of shaft portion-35isj exaggerated in- The hook 23 of the back board setter 20 comprises a section of round steel rod shaped as thisis shown in Fig. 1 with one end slightly longer thanthe other and with the longer end butt welded to the clamp body 28 just within the apex of the latter where the flanges 30 merge.

One of the great advantages of the' back board setter 20 of the present invention is the ease with which this may be used to set the back board 17 in its proper location to produce the curb and gutter form 16. This derives from the fact that the stakes 21*may be driven in the soil54 any place along the proper location for setting up the back board 17 and just to the rear of where the back board should be when so located. With stakes 21. so driven into the soil, the clamps 22 carrying hooks 23- areslipped over these stakes and set thereon with saidlhooks at the proper elevation for receiving and supporting the lower edge of the board 17. The form setters may then come along and merely set lengths of the back board 17 in the hooks 23-where they will rest on edge approximately upright and leaning against the stakes 21 at least two of which will be provided for each length-of the back board 17.

As pointed out in our co-pending applications, above identified, it is customary in practicing the inventions shown therein to provide dowel connecting means for abutting ends of adjoining lengths of back board so that no difiiculty is experienced in obtaining a smooth matchingrelation between adjoining ends of adjacent lengths.

After the back board 17 has thus been set up in its proper location, the balance of the curb and gutter form 16 comprising the face board 18 andgutter board. 19 are given their proper respective locations in this form byrelating them with precision with respect to the already effected location of the back board 17 by use of board jigging spacers 24. A more detailed disclosure of board jigging spacer 24may be found in the co-pending'applicaa tions above identified.

The board jigging spacer 24 is disclosed in the present case because of the important relationship between this and the back board setter 20 of the present invention. Moreover, the clamp 22 of the present invention is involved in significant sub-combinations embodied inthe board jigging spacer 24.

The board jigging spacer 24 includes a clamp 56, which is identical with the clamp 22 and which is as.- sembled in the spacer 24in inverted relation with clamp 22; Welded to the apex portion ofthe body 28 of the clamp 56 is an arched spacer bar 57 having a lug 55 which holds the upper edge of the back board 17 against the shaft 21 when the curb and gutter form'16 is assembled as shown in Fig. 1. The opposite end'of the spacer bar 57 is welded to a jig guide 58. of a face board jig 59. The adjacent end of the. spacer bar 57 and a lug;

60-extending downwardly therefrom forms an upward jaw 61-of the jig 59. Extending through the .tube 58is a rod 62 having a lower jig jaw 63 bentlaterally andupwardly slightly from its lower end andI-a handle 64'proI- vided by bending the upper end of the rod 62 at apoint located a substantial distance above the upperendof. the

tube 58. Surrounding the upwardly extending portion of the rod 62 beneath said handle is a coiled spring 65 which is confined, so as to bias the lower jaw 53 for upward spring action against the lower face of the face board 18 so as to yieldably clamp this board against the upper jaw 61 of jig 59 by a pin 66 extending through one of a series of holes 67 provided in the rod 62.

The board jigging spacer 24 also includes a spacer bar 72 which is butt welded at an oblique angle to the tube 58 on the opposite side therefrom and in substantially the same plane as the arched spacer 57. The spacer bar 72 is turned down at its opposite end to an approximately vertical position at the end portion 73 thereof which is welded to a guide tube 74 of a gutter board jig 75 andhas a tooth 76 which facilitates the spacer bar portion 73 acting as the upper jaw of jig 75. A rod 77 extends through the tube 74 and is bent at its lower end to form a lower jaw 78 for the jig 75. The portion of rod 77 extending upwardly from tube 74 has a compression spring 79 coiled thereabout and confined by a pin 80 which extends through one or the other ofaseries of holes 81- formed in said rod. The portion of said rod at its upward extremity is bent therefrom to form a handle 82. It will be noted that the construction of jig 75: is.

substantially identical to that of jig 59 and operatesxin jigging the gutter board 19 in substantially thesame man-.- ner as above described for the jigging of face board 18 in jig 59.

The tube. 74 of gutter board jig.75 is welded directly to the apex portion of the body 28 of a stake clamp.85*

which is identical in construction to the stake clamp-22.

A stake 86 is provided for association with the clamp 85' in a manner which will now be pointed out.

The firststep of erecting the curb and gutter form 16,

and already described, involves the setting of the back. board 17 on a series of back board setters 20. The next step involves the placing of the clamp 56 of one of the board jigging spacers 24 over each of the stakes 21, with the lower ends of the jigs 75 of those spacers resting on.

the ground. A stake 86 is now extended downwardly through each of the stake clamps 85 and driven into the ground as shown in Fig. l. The jig 75 isnow lifted to give the proper elevation to the upper jaw 73' of said:

jig for the upper edge of the gutter board 19. The clamp 85 is now set in the same manner as. above described for the clamp 22 so as to unite the jig 75 rigidly with the stake 86. The clamp 56 may now be set on the stake 21 in the same manner as the other clamps are set on their respective stakes.

The face board 18' is now lifted up into the arched spacer 57 and the lower edge of the face board 18 slid downwardly against the guide tubes 58-01: jigs 59 of the board jigging spacers 24, with the jaws 63 turned forwardly as shown on Fig. 1 but with the face board 18' still-not within the jigs 59. Downward pressure is now placed on the upper edge of the face board 18v to "cornpress the springs 65 thus making room between the jaws. 61 and63. to receive the face board 18 which is thenswung into flush engagement with the guide tubes 58' of the jigs 59. Downward pressure on face board 18 now being relaxed, the springs 65 shift the face board .18 upwardly and clamp the same between the jaws 61 and 631 Following this operation, the gutterboard 19 is installed in the jigs 75 in identically the same manner. The curb and gutter form 16 is now completely set up, because, when the face board 18=and gutter board 19 are inserted in the jigs 59 and 75 as above described, they are in exactly the correct locations they must have in the curb and gutter form'16 to give the correct dimensions to the curb and gutter to be cast therein and to exactly relatethis curb and gutter to the soil 55 in accordance with the prescribed survey data.

It may be notedthatthe stake 21 is slightly inclined to the left when it is driven into the soil 5 to oifer a backasupport to the backboard v17 '01? the. curb and gutter? form 16. In prior disclosures of our curb and gutter form assembling apparatus the stakes backing the back board 17 have preferably been driven vertically into the ground. No difficulty has been found to result from the requirement, in employing the back board setter 20, that the stake 21 be slightly inclined towards the back board when the assembly has been completed. This, of course, is necessary to set the backboard 17 in vertical position when the lower portion of the back board is supported in the hook 23 and the upper edge of the back board rests against the stake 21.

As above pointed out, one of the great advantages of the back board setter 20 is the fact that the-stakes 21 employed therewith may be driven at any points along the back board 17 whereas formerly the stakes used for supporting the back board had to be located in the planes or close to the planes of abutment at which adjacent back board lengths meet. Not infrequently is it found in practical operations that the ground at these particular location is too hard to allow a stake to be driven therein and it is thus necessary to support the back board 17 at this particular point by some other means than a stake unless it is possible to shift the stake supporting the back board to a different location. In the present invention this may readily be done because the hook 23 will support the back board 17 at any point throughout its length.

Another advantage of the back board setter 20 of the present invention is that this may be used on the same stake 21 which is employed by one of the board jigging spacers 24- of the apparatus. Thus separate stakes for the jigging spacers 24- and the back board setters 20 are not required. This substantially decreases the number of stakes required for setting up a curb and gutter form 16.

While it is preferable to drive the stakes 21 and 86 into the soil 55 when setting up the curb and gutter form 16 with the apparatus of the invention, the clamps 22, 56 and 85 of the invention when set on the stakes 21 and 86 form such rigid connections with these stakes that for practical purposes it is not essential to drive the stakes 21 and 86 into the soil. Thus where the surface on which it is necessary to cast a curb and gutter in the curb and gutter form 16 is too hard for substantial penetration by the stakes of the apparatus the apparatus may be assembled so it will practically sit on top of this hard surface and the mold can still be properly formed and the curb and gutter cast in place in accordance with the survey data. When this is done, of course, the pointed lower ends of the stakes 21 and 86 simply rest on the top of the surface over which the form is set up and the connection offered by the clamps 56 between the spacer bars 24 and the stakes 21 is sufficient to prevent the outward expansion of the back board 17 when the concrete is poured in the form.

Disassembly of the curb and gutter form 16 after the curb and gutter has been cast therein and hardened sufficiently to permit this, is effected by relaxing the clamps 22, 56 and 85 by rotating the handles 38 thereof in a reverse direction from that by which the clamps were set. The lock bars 42 of these clamps are then slid out of locking relation with the stakes 21 and 86 thus freeing the clamps from the stakes. The grip by the jigs 59 and 75 on the lower edges of the face board 18 and gutter board 19 is now disengaged by depressing the rods 62 and 77, by pressing downward on the handles 64 and 82,

and by then rotating these handles to swing the jaws 63 and 78 out from under boards 18 and 19.

Theboard jigging spacers 24 are now free to be lifted directly upwardly from over stakes 21 and 86. The stakes 21 and 18 may now be pulled from the soil 55 and the boards 17, 1S and 19 removed from the cast curb and gutter and all this apparatus including the clamps 22 with the hooks 23 secured thereto, is thus free to be removed to a new form assembling location where it may be employed again in assembling a curb and gutter form 16.

It is to be noted that the wedge face 48 of the lock bar 42 of the clamps 22, 56 and is relatively long so that a considerable adjustment is thus built into each of these clamps adapting these clamps to handle stakes varying substantially in diameter. Thus, while the stakes shown in the drawings are preferably round stock of inch diameter, the clamps will readily accommodate stakes as small as of an inch in diameter or large as of an inch in diameter.

While only a single embodiment of the invention is shown in the attached drawings, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made in this without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

The claims are:

1. A clamp comprising a U-shaped metal body terminating in two substantially parallel arms, said body being adapted to receive a smooth metal stake when said clamp is in use, said arms having a pair of coaxial (holes in the axis of which is substantially at right angles to and spaced from said stake; a clamp setting shaft portions of which are journalled in said holes, a middle portion of said shaft lying between said arms and being slightly eccentric relative to said portions of said shaft journalling in said holes, one end of said shaft having an actuating handle formed thereon; a lock bar of metal bent to form a relatively long leg and a relatively short leg, sharp edges of both of which bear against said stake, said long legs thus providing a wedge face, said bar fitting between said arms and being shiftable parallel with said stake between said stake and said shaft to present said wedge face in contact with said shaft, whereupon, rotation of said shaft applies the eccentric portion of said shaft to said wedge face to force said lock bar against said stake with substantial power; and keeper means for retaining said bar against separation from said clamp.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which the bottom portion of said U-shaped metal body is V-shaped so as to present substantially flat converging faces to said stake for supporting the same when said stake is forced against said body by the actuation of said shaft.

3. A combination as in claim 1 in which said keeper means comprises a metal strap with end portions bent therefrom towards said lock bar and welded to said lock bar at opposite ends of said wedge face thereby forming an elongated opening between said face and said strap through which said eccentric portion of said shaft extends.

4. A clamp comprising a U-shaped metal body terminating in two substantially parallel arms, said yoke receiving a smooth metal stake when said clamp is in use, said arms having a pair of coaxial holes, the axis of which is substantially at right angles to and spaced from said stake; a clamp setting shaft having portions journalling in said holes, one end of said shaft having means provided thereon for rotating said shaft, and the portion of said shaft between said arms being eccentric relative to the portions of said shaft journalling in said holes; a lock bar extending between said stake and said slhaft, said bar being substantially wedge shaped whereby the shifting of said bar to contact both said shaft and said stake with the latter nested in said U-shaped body, and the rotation of said shaft to apply the eccentric portion thereof to said lock bar to compress said stake and lock bar against said body acts to lock said clamp on said stake; and keeper means for retaining said bar against separation from said clamp.

t combination as in claim 4 in which relatively sharp edges are provided on opposite end portions of said lock bar which edges engage said stage whereby pressure of said lock bar against said stake prevents longitudinal motion between said lock bar and said stake when the latter is locked within said clamp.

6. A clamp comprising a body, having a vertical opening adapted to receive any of a plurality of smooth metal stakes varying substantially in diameter; rotatable eccentric locking means journalled on said 'body at right angles to said stake and spaced therefrom; a wedge shaped lock bar shiftable in said body parallel with said stake to simultaneously engage said stake and said eccentric means; means regardless of said difierences in stake diameter, and prior to said locking means being actuated retaining said lock bar against separation from said clamp; and means for rotating said locking means to compress said stake and said bar together in said body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Colarusso 'Oct. 23, 1917 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CQRREGTlON Patent No. 2,894,307 July 14? 1959 Eric l1a Hogan et al.,

It is herebfl certified that error appears in the-printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 19, strike out in"; line 28, for "legs" read leg line 48, for "yoke" read m body line 69, for *stage" read me stake column 7, line 5, for "means; means regardless" read means regardless 3 line 6, for "actuated" read We actuated; means w Signed and sealed this 1st day of March 1960o (SEAL) Attest:

KARL Ha AXLINE ROBERT C. WATSGN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

